Simon’s Rock keeps safety in mind

GREAT BARRINGTON – Despite it having happened 20 years ago, those impacted by the tragic shooting at Simon’s Rock College still remember.

“Every year a small group of people who were affected by the shooting will come here for a memorial,” said Paige S. Orloff, director of communications at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.

This memorial takes place in the Peace Grove on Simon’s Rock’s campus. The Peace Grove was built in 1993.

On December 14, 1992, Wayne Lo, an 18-year-old student at Simon’s Rock launched an attack on his school’s campus with an SKS semiautomatic rifle. The shooting left two people dead and four wounded. Mr. Lo was convicted of the murders of 18-year-old student Galen Gibson of Gloucester, Mass., and 37-year-old Spanish Professor Ñacuñán L. Sáez in 1994. Mr. Lo is currently serving two sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Obviously it had a tremendous effect on the people who were here, who were affected,” said Ms. Orloff, who was not employed by Simon’s Rock at the time of the shooting, when asked by The Beacon about the impact the shooting had on Simon’s Rock as an institution. “It’s something that we honor and remember.”

“I think every college tries to be mindful of their students welfare in every way,” said Ms. Orloff when asked if the shooting had changed how Simon’s Rock functioned as a community.

As for what measures Simon’s Rock has put into place in the years since the shooting to prevent such an event from happening again, Ms. Orloff, said the college had made appropriate preparations.

“We obviously have our own security and emergency plans,” said Ms. Orloff, who also noted that the college didn’t want to publicize them, so as not to possibly compromise their effectiveness.

“If the tragedy in Newtown teaches us anything, it’s that even with the best precautions, we can never completely guard against random acts of violence,” said Ms. Orloff in a statement released to The Beacon.

A member of the Simon’s Rock administration who was employed by the college at the time of shooting, and willing to talk about the event, could not be located by The Beacon at the time of this issue’s publication.

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on December 27, 2012. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry